Mix all & smear a little on small squares of cardboard, then place wherever ants are coming in such as behind appliances.

There are a few other tips that will help you control the ants that enter your home as well. Always be sure to trim any tree or shrub branches that touch or overhang your home.

Seal cracks with silicone caulking to prevent access. Check around outlets to see if ants have been entering through them, this is a frequent access hole. You can seal unused outlets with safety covers. This includes areas where utility lines enter the home, air conditioning, refrigerant pipes, telephone and cable lines, etc.

Sprinkle food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) around any areas where you’ve seen them enter the home.

Ants will only remain in areas where they have moisture, so near pipes, under cupboards in bathrooms and kitchens, leaking eaves, water damage within walls and under window sills. Carpenter ants are quite destructive and LOVE wet/damp insulation. If you’re seeing ants in the winter months, chances are you have a serious carpenter ant infestation and they WILL Literally EAT your house, much like a termite.

Here is a photo that was taken of friends home in Maine, where a carpenter ant infestation devastated the home. This shot is a close up of a sill that had moisture damage, a perfect home to a carpenter ant:

Avoid stacking firewood on your porch, deck or near the house as this encourages nesting in columns, pillars and ventilators.

If you don’t have small children or pets you can add 1/2 cup of borax per gallon of hot water to the mop water and wash the floors with it. This will remove the pheromones that have been left behind by other ants and will deter them from the house.

If you do have kids/pets, add peppermint essential oil to the mop water instead of borax, it will have the same effect. We use 2 tsp dawn dishsoap, 60 drops of Peppermint essential oil and 2 gallons of hot water. Mop as you normally would, rinsing is not required.

Melissa Burnell, known to her friends and fans as "Liss," grew up in Southern Maine, now residing in sunny South Carolina. As a busy Wife, Mother of two sons, an avid photographer, and self-employed entrepreneur, Liss understands the value of both time and money.

i like this idea because i have cats and they are notorious for getting into things they aren’t suppose to so this would be better than using a boric acid recipe. i used the boric acid once before and was concerned for their health and safety. so i want something that won’t cause them any harm and this may just be what i’m looking for.

Great information!!! I was having an ant invasion inside my house, I have tried many natural homemade ant killer but they are not effective. Then I have tried a toxic ant killer and my dog almost get poisoned with that toxic ant killer, so not using anymore!! Then I was looking for safe ant killer that are safe around kids and pets. Then I found some ant killer at Pet Safe Ant Killer which are safe around kids and pets and also very effective….after using those I have seen so much reduction of ants inside my house.

And after 2 week they are completely gone. The site has very good information about the pet safe ant killer, it may help you.

I can attest to the damage these stupid pests cause. They started in around the base of our door where the wood started to rot from excess moisture and ate all the way up the casing. My daughter slammed the door one day and the entire thing almost fell OUT.

When the repair guy pulled out the door, they had eaten the framework.